Monkey-wrench.



No. 798,424. PATENTED AUG. 29, 1905.

J. S. LAITINEN. MONKEY WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30. 1905.

I l l I WITNESSES: W JNVENTOR.

BY a w ATTORNEY.

JACOB S. LAITINEN, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

MONKEY-WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 1905 Application filed March 80, 1905. Serial No.252,982.

To (all whom (It may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB S. LAITINEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at 599 Henry street, Columbus, in the county of Franklin andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWrenches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to wrenches; and it consists in the use of twofixed shanks provided With the usual fixed jaw and the movable jaw, inmeans for readily adjusting the movable jaw and securing the same at anydesired point, so that the strain produced in the operation of thewrench falls entirely upon the shanks, thereby relieving the adjustingdevice. The whole is so constructed as to provide a wrench quickly andeasily adjusted to any article, is simple and durable, and consists ofthe parts and has the method of operation hereinafter specifically setforth.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals refer to the sameparts throughout, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved wrench.Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation showingthe adjusting pinion-wheel and the means of controlling the same. Fig. 4shows two views of the pinion and ratchet-wheel. Fig. 5 is the dog,provided with teeth for engaging the ratchet-wheel; and Fig. 6 is aplate confining the ratchet-wheel and providing a bearing therefor.

In my improved wrench,1 is an upper shank provided upon its inner facewith a rack-bar 2, the teeth 3 of which may be either rectangular inside elevation or tapering. 4: is a second shank. At one end the shanksare bound together by the tie 5, which also secures in place upon theshanks the handle 6. Upon the other end of these shanks is mounted afixed jaw 7.

8 is a movable jaw mounted upon the shanks between the fixed jaw 7 andthe handle 6 and adapted to slide between these limits.

9 is a spindle carrying a ratchet-wheel 10 and pinion 11. This spindlefits snugly into an opening (not shown) in one face of the inner side ofthe movable jaw and is mounted at the other end in the opening 12 in theplate 13.v The latter is held in place by screws inserted in theopenings 1a and 15. The ratchetwheel and pinion are mounted rigidly uponthe spindle 9; but the spindle itself is free to turn in the bearingsdescribed above.

16 is a dog provided with teeth 17 adapted to engage with the teeth ofthe ratchet-wheel 10 and hold the same in any desired position. This dogis secured to one of the faces of the movable jaw, as seen in Fig. 3,and is acted upon by a spring 1-8, seated in a cavity provided thereforin one of the inner faces of the movable jaw. These parts are so placedrelatively to each other that when the dog is grasped and forced againstthe spring, compressing the same, the teeth are thrown out of engagementwith the ratchet; but as soon as the dog is released the expansion ofthe spring forces the teeth thereof again into engagement with theratchet. The pinion-wheel 11 is adapted to engage with the teeth of therack-bar 2 as the movable jaw is pushed forward or backward.

The operation of my improved wrench is as follows: To slide the movablejaw nearer to the fixed jaw, it is necessary only to push the movablejaw forward, as in this movement the teeth of the ratchet-wheel runbackward over the teeth of the dog, and the pinion engaging with therack-bar the adjustment forward is quickly accomplished. The movable jawcannot be moved away from the fixed jaw without releasing theratchet-wheel, so that any forward movement of the jaw leaves it in aposition in which it is locked positively against backward movement. Inorder to release the ratchet-wheel, the dog is forced against thespring, whichmovement throws the teeth out of engagement and theratchetwheel is free to turn. The movable jaw may now be pushed backwardas far as is desired, whereupon the dog is permitted again to engage theteeth of the ratchet wheel. This is accomplished by the expansion of thespring, which acting upon the dog will unfailingly force it intoengagement with the ratchetwheel as soon as the pressure is removed. Thepinion-wheel being carried upon the same spindle with the ratchet-w heeland both being rigidly mounted thereon will turn with the ratchet-wheeland in the same direction whenever the movable jaw is pushed forward orbackward. Whenever the ratchet-wheel is locked against backward movementby the dog, the pinion-wheel is also looked. To adjust the wrench to anydesired object, therefore, the movable jaw may easily be brought forwardby merely pushing thereon or backward by first releasing the dog fromthe ratchet Wheel and then pushing thereon. When the object is tightlyheld between the jaws and force is applied to the wrench, it is seenthat the stress falls almost entirely upon the two shanks and that theratchet and pinion are not under any undue strain. Therefore they arecapable of long-sustained usage and on accountof the simplicity of theirconstruction will not readily get out of order or in any wise lose theirefficiency.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that my improved wrench issimple in construction, easily adjusted to any desired object, and ishighly efficient and durable.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I l. Awrench, comprising a shank, a second shank, a rack-bar upon said secondshank, a fixed jaw, a movable jaw carried by said shanks and adapted toslide thereon, a pinion-wheel mounted in said movable jaw and adapted toengage with said rack-bar, a ratchet wheel in said movable jaw, a dogmounted within said movable jaw and adapted to engage saidratchet-wheel, a spring mounted in said movable jaw and adapted to holdsaid dog and ratchet-wheel in engagement, a spindle upon which saidpinion and ratchet are rigidly mounted, and a plate adapted to providean outer bearing for said spindle and toconfine said pinion andratchet-wheel within said movable jaw.

2. In a wrench, a fixed jaw a movable jaw mounted upon two shanks, aplate secured in one side thereof, a spindle mounted in said jaw andplate, a pinion rigidly mounted upon said spindle and adapted to engagesaid rack-- JACOB S. LAITINEN.

Witnesses:

L. F. SATER, E. L. PEAsE.

